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UND seniors Tamara Merseli and Teodora Tepavac grew up two hours away from each other in Serbia, but the two never met until they took a 17-hour plane ride to the United States to play Division I volleyball. Now, their close relationship helps them deal with living so far from home. And, now comfortable in Grand Forks, the pair's play on the court has UND enjoying one of its best seasons in program history. "It's really important," Merseli said of having Tepavac as a roommate. "My freshman year, I had no Serbian friends. Having her going through the same experiences I do, it's so good." UND's Serbian volleyball flavor is mostly by coincidence, although once Fighting Hawks coach Mark Pryor landed a commitment from Merseli, he sold Tepavac on the Serbian connection. But Pryor stumbled upon both players as recruits after looking at the junior college All-American list, specifically the freshmen on the list. Merseli, who has a twin sister playing Division I volleyball at the University of Evansville in Indiana, attended Indian Hills Community College in Iowa and Tepavac went to Northwest Community College in Wyoming. Both players came to the United States because American volleyball offers the opportunity to play a sport and go to school. The club teams in Serbia aren't associated with universities. "I love everything about UND," Merseli said. "I love the facilities and team atmosphere. That's a huge part of why I decided to come here." The parents of Merseli and Tepavac have never seen their kids play college volleyball in person, but both players have a strong support system back home. With a seven-hour time difference between Grand Forks and Serbia, the Merselis and Tepavacs watch every match, even if that means tuning in at 3 a.m. "Before every game, they message me 'good luck,'" Tepavac said. "I always have to reply to them." Merseli and Tepavac still have plenty of postgame love at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, even though their parents aren't able to come to Grand Forks. That's because while walking through the Columbia Mall last year, the two UND Serbian players overhead a family speaking their native language. Merseli and Tepavac struck up a conversation, then a friendship. Now, those families—the girls estimate up to 15 families from the general Serbia or Bosnia areas—come to the Betty to watch volleyball. "They've been huge supporters," Merseli said. "It's nice to have someone hug you after a game, whether you played good or bad. Having someone from your own culture, it's a huge part of moral support." Pryor said Serbia is known for quality volleyball. The kids start playing at a younger age than America, he said. Pryor also said coaches are typically pretty stern. "There are a lot of people who think I'm kind of tough, but Tam and Teo are like, "No, he's cake,' " Pryor said. "'He'd fit right in in Serbia.' I don't know if that's a compliment or not." UND, fresh off the program's first trip to the NCAA tournament last year, is off to a 19-4 start this season, with big contributions from the Serbians. Merseli was the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year last year and was named to the all-league first team and all-tournament team. She has 230 kills this year, ranking second on the team. Tepavac shines in the back row, where she is tied for second on the team with Merseli with 296 digs. "They understand the game," Pryor said. "Their volleyball IQ allows them to make better reads. Sticking both of them in the spots we have them in right now has really helped us out." Original article at http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4341691-und-volleyball-fueled-serbian-connection

(LEXINGTON) – The 2016 Grizzly volleyball team at Missouri State University-West Plains recently received academic honors from American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Grizzlies were among 21 teams from two-year schools across the nation to receive the 2016-17 AVCA Team Academic Award for posting a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.30 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all players. The Grizzlies’ 3.82 average was high enough to earn the team Honor Roll distinction from AVCA officials. “I am exceptionally proud of these girls and love the fact their hard work in the classroom gets recognized,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said. “This is the culmination of a lot of effort put in by these players and everyone who supports them as student-athletes. Their dedication to being good students is a testament to the work they put into everything they do, and I could not be happier for them. They were a great example of good habits leading to good results.” Six of the team’s 14 members recorded 4.0 GPAs for the 2016-17 academic year. They were Autumn Reese, Ozark; Blanca Izquierdo-Paton, Madrid, Spain; Stephanie Phillips, Brisbane, Australia; Elliotte Bourne, Rolla; Muara Kroon, Utrecht, Holland; and Johonna Walkup, Mountain View. Three players – Maja Petronijevic, Belgrade, Serbia; Kinli Simmons, Milo; and Kaitlyn Raith, Mountain View – each posted GPAs between 3.9 and 3.99 for the year. “As a team, they set the highest team GPA we have ever had,” Wiedemann said. “This group did an amazing job in the classroom. We had players who put in the time to improve their habits as students, and it has paid off in many ways.” Wiedemann also credited the team’s academic coordinator, Tori Bates, and the staff in the Advisement and Academic Coaching Center for Empowering Student Success (AACCESS) and with the PAWS (Promoting Academic Success With Student-Athletes) Program for helping the players develop the skills to succeed academically. The AVCA Team Academic Award was established during the 1992-93 academic year and honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom during the academic year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale, according to an AVCA press release. The award, celebrating its 25 year, is the single largest awards offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches awarded. Since 1993, the number of award winners has increased from 62 to this year’s 822 honorees. Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program’s 25-year history, with 8,461 total awards handed out. In order for a school to receive “honor roll” status, its division had to reach a minimum number of nominations. For NCAA Division I, II, III and girls high school, their nomination numbers allow for a top 25 honor roll; for NAIA women, a top 10; and for two-year college, collegiate men, collegiate beach and high school boys, a top five. News article: http://www.ozarkradionews.com/local-news/grizzly-volleyball-team-receives-academic-recognition-from-avca

(LEXINGTON) – The 2016 Grizzly volleyball team at Missouri State University-West Plains recently received academic honors from American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Grizzlies were among 21 teams from two-year schools across the nation to receive the 2016-17 AVCA Team Academic Award for posting a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.30 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all players. The Grizzlies’ 3.82 average was high enough to earn the team Honor Roll distinction from AVCA officials. “I am exceptionally proud of these girls and love the fact their hard work in the classroom gets recognized,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said. “This is the culmination of a lot of effort put in by these players and everyone who supports them as student-athletes. Their dedication to being good students is a testament to the work they put into everything they do, and I could not be happier for them. They were a great example of good habits leading to good results.” Six of the team’s 14 members recorded 4.0 GPAs for the 2016-17 academic year. They were Autumn Reese, Ozark; Blanca Izquierdo-Paton, Madrid, Spain; Stephanie Phillips, Brisbane, Australia; Elliotte Bourne, Rolla; Muara Kroon, Utrecht, Holland; and Johonna Walkup, Mountain View. Three players – Maja Petronijevic, Belgrade, Serbia; Kinli Simmons, Milo; and Kaitlyn Raith, Mountain View – each posted GPAs between 3.9 and 3.99 for the year. “As a team, they set the highest team GPA we have ever had,” Wiedemann said. “This group did an amazing job in the classroom. We had players who put in the time to improve their habits as students, and it has paid off in many ways.” Wiedemann also credited the team’s academic coordinator, Tori Bates, and the staff in the Advisement and Academic Coaching Center for Empowering Student Success (AACCESS) and with the PAWS (Promoting Academic Success With Student-Athletes) Program for helping the players develop the skills to succeed academically. The AVCA Team Academic Award was established during the 1992-93 academic year and honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom during the academic year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale, according to an AVCA press release. The award, celebrating its 25 year, is the single largest awards offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches awarded. Since 1993, the number of award winners has increased from 62 to this year’s 822 honorees. Over 1,000 different schools have earned the award in the program’s 25-year history, with 8,461 total awards handed out. In order for a school to receive “honor roll” status, its division had to reach a minimum number of nominations. For NCAA Division I, II, III and girls high school, their nomination numbers allow for a top 25 honor roll; for NAIA women, a top 10; and for two-year college, collegiate men, collegiate beach and high school boys, a top five. Original article: http://www.ozarkradionews.com/local-news/grizzly-volleyball-team-receives-academic-recognition-from-avca

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) -- Tamara Merseli and Teodora Tepavac are spending a summer day helping out high school volleyball players from across the region learn the tricks of the trade. The pair are a long way from home. Home, is Serbia, nestled in the heart of Europe, over 5,000 miles away from their new home in Grand Forks. “I'll be honest. I went and looked at the Junior College All-American List and just started contacting as many as I could,” UND Head Coach Mark Pryor said. “Those two didn't even know each other." It's true. Though they are both Serbian, their path to Grand Forks was different. In Serbia college volleyball doesn't exist. So if the two wanted to keep playing without having to turn pro, heading to the United States was the best option. Both went to junior college before coming to UND. Merseli came from a small school in Southern Iowa. "I got recruited by Indian Hills CC, that was my first two years and everything after that was kind of just going by,” Merseli said. “So I ended up talking to Mark. Mark recruited me to come here. So I decided to come here." Tepavac, who goes by Teo because she says it’s easier to say, is from an even smaller school in Northern Wyoming. “I went there for two years. In my sophomore year after season I wanted to find a university that I could continue my degree and keep playing volleyball and that's how I ended up coming to North Dakota," Tepavac said. Neither of the two had been to the United States before coming over to play college volleyball. Despite not knowing many people when they got to UND's campus, the pair quickly became friends. "When she came, we became roommates and now we are still living together," Tepavac said. “It's really amazing that you can talk to somebody that's kind of same culture and same experience as you and you can share your feelings with it," Merseli said. The two speak Serbian when they are alone with each other but they prefer to speak in English around their teammates as a courtesy. Both Merseli and Tepavac don't get back home to Serbia very often. They usually take some time during the summer to endure the 17 hour flight. “That is definitely a great thing having Tamara with me just because I never like to fly alone," Tepavac said. Merseli's family only gets a chance to watch her play volleyball thanks to internet web streams. Both have excelled at volleyball, and both are on track to graduate this year with a bachelors degree. "They've got a chance to get the experience but then they're going to be set up for the rest of their lives a little better and if we can do that as a coaching staff that's important to me," Pryor said. UND is coming off a big sky conference championship and their first ever NCAA Division I tournament appearance. The Fighting Hawks begin play for the 2017 season on August 25th. Original article posted here - http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/sports/From-Serbia-to-Grand-Forks-UND-Seniors-finding-way-5000-miles-away-from-home-435728393.html.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) -- Tamara Merseli and Teodora Tepavac are spending a summer day helping out high school volleyball players from across the region learn the tricks of the trade. The pair are a long way from home. Home, is Serbia, nestled in the heart of Europe, over 5,000 miles away from their new home in Grand Forks. “I'll be honest. I went and looked at the Junior College All-American List and just started contacting as many as I could,” UND Head Coach Mark Pryor said. “Those two didn't even know each other." It's true. Though they are both Serbian, their path to Grand Forks was different. In Serbia college volleyball doesn't exist. So if the two wanted to keep playing without having to turn pro, heading to the United States was the best option. Both went to junior college before coming to UND. Merseli came from a small school in Southern Iowa. "I got recruited by Indian Hills CC, that was my first two years and everything after that was kind of just going by,” Merseli said. “So I ended up talking to Mark. Mark recruited me to come here. So I decided to come here." Tepavac, who goes by Teo because she says it’s easier to say, is from an even smaller school in Northern Wyoming. “I went there for two years. In my sophomore year after season I wanted to find a university that I could continue my degree and keep playing volleyball and that's how I ended up coming to North Dakota," Tepavac said. Neither of the two had been to the United States before coming over to play college volleyball. Despite not knowing many people when they got to UND's campus, the pair quickly became friends. "When she came, we became roommates and now we are still living together," Tepavac said. “It's really amazing that you can talk to somebody that's kind of same culture and same experience as you and you can share your feelings with it," Merseli said. The two speak Serbian when they are alone with each other but they prefer to speak in English around their teammates as a courtesy. Both Merseli and Tepavac don't get back home to Serbia very often. They usually take some time during the summer to endure the 17 hour flight. “That is definitely a great thing having Tamara with me just because I never like to fly alone," Tepavac said. Merseli's family only gets a chance to watch her play volleyball thanks to internet web streams. Both have excelled at volleyball, and both are on track to graduate this year with a bachelors degree. "They've got a chance to get the experience but then they're going to be set up for the rest of their lives a little better and if we can do that as a coaching staff that's important to me," Pryor said. UND is coming off a big sky conference championship and their first ever NCAA Division I tournament appearance. The Fighting Hawks begin play for the 2017 season on August 25th. Original article posted here - http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/sports/From-Serbia-to-Grand-Forks-UND-Seniors-finding-way-5000-miles-away-from-home-435728393.html .